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Promises are made to get you to sign a lease, and then excuses are given about the high cost of fulfilling those promises, and you're mostly ignored until they want you to renew. Repairs, if eventually completed, are cosmetic and do little to address the actual problem. Upkeep and maintenance, including shoveling sidewalks, removing ice, and cutting grass (which are specifically mentioned in the lease as the landlord's responsibility), do not happen.
One anecdote: I deducted 1 day's rent from my monthly check because there were 3 days without working gas in terms of the stove and hot water heater. Trattner waited to address this problem until the gas company shut off the building's service entirely. I received a livid phone call about the missing money. My withholding less than $100 for the inconvenience of several days of cold showers and the inability to cook at home was compared to "what would happen" if he deducted from his mortgage payments- completely invalid argument, since he owns his house and I'm obviously renting my apartment. He wouldn't speak to me like an adult, but insisted on yelling at me over this tiny amount of money. Months later, when I finally received a proposed lease renewal, they wanted to raise my monthly rate by nearly 10%. A neighbor who shares my building informed me that her proposed increase is $15 monthly. This company is a big reason as to why I'm buying a house.
In short- they only care about money. Threats to withhold rent money typically get them moving faster than they would otherwise. Get all promises of repairs and updates in writing, otherwise, it's not going to happen, unless you withhold money from them.
Full security deposit returned, only after I explicitly laid out in correspondence that I expected him to follow the law in terms of providing specified deductions and in terms of interest accrued on my security deposit. He doesn't seem to be a bad guy, but I would not rent from him or his company again.
I do not recommend renting from Leonard Feldman unless your budget demands it.
I lived in one of his buildings for four years and I was comfortable enough most of the time, but I also tolerated a lot of hassle, mainly because I couldn't afford to leave. Before I go full negative, I will say that if you can get him to send maintenance, his maintenance worker is fantastic and lovely to work with (although he may let himself in without ever coordinating with or even telling you). He also allows pets at no cost and his apartments are very inexpensive and in great locations, in buildings that could be beautiful if anyone put an ounce of care into them. He is extremely casual and hands off - doesn't pay attention to when you turn in rent and doesn't keep up with leases (I didn't sign anything for the last three years I was there). That being said...
Leonard lives in New York. Occasionally, he can be helpful or even kind. More often, he does not want to be bothered and he will talk over you until you lose the will to complain. If you have a problem, it's the first time he's ever had such a problem in all his years. An abbreviated list of challenging and, at times, illegal conditions: many winter nights without heat, at least eight months without a washer/dryer, a broken refrigerator that he took a week to fix, a gas leak that he took two weeks to fix, mice, several moth infestations, two water leaks, dangerously icy steps and sidewalks. Try telling him about any one of these things and you'll get the kind of response that tells you that you should be grateful just to have a roof over your head. Tell him about any two of these things, and he might just quit returning your calls and texts altogether.